The Arkansaw traveler., 1887-07-02
AMERICAN CHILDREN.
Ralph EassoO, in Tho Epoch,

{ Lamb said, and 1t Is we'll known that Ryron, whose feeling towards women was much like that of \ refined sailor (supposing such character to existl could not bear to see woman eat, Who does not feel shock when a woman or child falls far below his ideal? X modern poet expressed the wish that he might be compasseSl about by the purc and innocent forms of childVn: but he would not have carcd to be surrounded by a group oi ] American boys aht girls, shrsek!ng slang at the top of their voices, eating candy voraciously and delivering their l opinions with confidence upon mat : ] ters beyond their comprehension, Between the ages of twelve and nlne- ] teen tho American boy Is apt to be a nondescript, restless, dissatisfied and unnatural person. Not content with being boy, he tries to make himself a man by tho nse of cigarettes, lay man. nish airs, by pNcocious know ledge of the world.
 X traveller of some distinction, who was in this country not long ago. rc- marked that 1t made him shuddcr to hear our boys and girls freely express ing opinions upon religion. politics, science. what not; and if We do not shudder ourselves it Is hccausc we are accustomed to the practice. Who has not heard young slip of a girl, whose educatl0 l0n outside of elementary studies at school has been conducted chiefly by "Rhoda Hroughton" and like masters of thought. settling off f-hand the question ot universal salvation the controversy between the Catholic and Protestant chuwhcs, "wumcn's rights" the merits of tho Anglican creed or the ethics of divorce with as much fnedom as she would usc in critieising her mothers new bonnet ar her fathers character The children themselves can hnrdly bc blamed, for they arc what their surroundings make them. What evil influences pcrvert the American ehildl Partly, no doubt, the pervcrsion may bc as- cribsi to the working ont. or to the reiucf,o ad dbSettlnm, of the demo- cratic spirit. X man who incorrectly considers himself to be as wise, as wcll-hrcd, as important as my body In the community. who. in word, looks up to nobody, will not be revegruced by his own children The feeling of respect and the sense of subonlinntlon do mol exist in his family, and conse- quently the children are entirely ,lr- ilcicnt in that vencintion which Is nal ural to childhood, and lacking thi~. they are not children, but imps. Plato snid that in m ultra -dcmocmtlc state the very horses and dogs in thc street wore an air of impudencc and self will. Children In all ranks suffer also from too hnsty development
 Their studies are otten forced; they are encouraged ar allowed to take part in conversations that air nhovc them. and they arc surieitcd with foolish literature. A child should read few books. and some of them, nt lcnst. should be such as he does not nlto- gcihcr understand, for then his iuiag. nation will be developed. his fancy enriched. and his intellectual curiosity stimulntcd There is nothing so good for him ns to lri him alone The per- captions of children are wonderfully acute, but they are only dulled by much reading of 'Juvcnilc litcruture.' UT by the premature exercise of their reasoning powers, In q incasurc, the peculiar fiiults of American children may doubticss ic atiribii;s.! :o cll- mate When boy delivers his most ordinary remarks In n loud soprano scream, or climbs all over railroad car, or bolts his dinner like Il hungry pup, the just mAn, however much an- moved, will consider that our dry and rasplDg climnte has ovcrset the nr- vous system of inc lad. Moreover, unless his case k m exceptional one, he has never been tnnght 10 moduIate hi. voice. The child whose mother invariably speaks in high pitched tones can hardly be expected to dis cover for himself that there is another and better way. On the whole, then, the more the subject is examined thc more clearly it appears tlnt the pc. culinr faults of American children may truly bc described as partly geo graphical and largely parental in their origin.
 Their virtues are as striking as their faults. Very few children are alto gcther truthful, but certainly the American child is eminent in this respect, surpassiDg even his English contemporary. Our children are, moreover, so frank, so nirBblc- V itted and so sympathetic that often they cinrm away the disagrceabic impr@=- sion of their worst faults. As for the American girl, she ia perhaps most cn- gaging when she might stilI bc called 4 child. But with this complex and fascinating person, the despair and the